Snow Removal 2019 – It’s Fundamental

Snow Removal is Critical for both Businesses and Residences Alike

What are you going to do with a bulldozer in the wintertime? When you’ve got dump trucks, skid loaders, and the like, and no one is calling you to dig a hole in the ground for their new foundation, you’ve got to keep them doing something!

Any construction firm who has their own equipment want to keep that equipment in rotation, and of course we still want to make some money in the winter, so snow removal has been a staple of concrete construction and excavation contractors since… well, it seems like forever.

We’re just saying we’ve removed a lot of snow in our day. A lot.

And this February has been a doozy. After winter storm Quiana, this February has broken all records for snowfall. Combine that with polar vortices and this winter has been particularly brutal.

Spring can’t come soon enough!

Still, there’s at least one more month of the white stuff to go. So let’s talk about why it’s so crucial to get out there and get that snow removed quickly.

Do you want to avoid this?

Even a Light Snow on top of ice can be a Slip Hazard

That’s right: even a small dusting of snow, when combined with ice and freezing tempuratures, can lead to incredibly slick conditions. The snow itself compacts under your foot, which then fills the treads you use to grip the ground. With those treads being full, you’ve got less of a grip on the ground than you had before. And now the next step you take is just like putting one smooth surface on another smooth surface. Without the traction, you’re going to find yourself in a slip hazard pretty quick.

Not everyone is going to have metal grips for their boots, so it would be wise to remember your snow removal!

Compacted Snow is Harder to Remove

A fresh snowfall is pretty easy to scoop up and remove. Easy-peasy. But if you’ve had everyone stomping on it and compacting it, you’re really going to have to get down there and scrape. Easiest way to avoid that is by getting at that snowfall right away. Not much of a point to getting out there and getting after it as the snow is falling, but try to get out in it as soon as possible after the snowfall has passed. This way you can be sure to remove it before anyone has a chance to walk (or worse yet, drive) over it.

Or, alternatively, have someone else get out there for you. What are your kids doing right now, anyway?

Snow Melts and Compacts as it Sits

As snow sits, it gets hit with sunlight, that sunlight is going to melt some of the snow, which then turns to water and flows down into the snow. If you’ve got nice warm temperatures (or at least temperatures above freezing!) for a few weeks, that’s not a problem. In fact, that’s great! It means the snow is going away! The problem is when it stays freezing, especially overnight. So you’ve got a cycle that goes through the day, melting the snow with sunshine, and then when night comes, the dial drops and that water freezes. This causes the snow to compact and become denser and harder to remove. Worse yet, at the bottom, the snow has most likely developed at least a thin layer of ice. So even if you take care of the snow now after a few days of letting it sit, not only is it going to be harder to remove, but you get greeted with a layer of the very ice you were trying to prevent.

Ugh! Terrible! Which puts you in the position of having to potentially buy deicer, salt, or some kitty litter, in order to combat the ice. None of these are great options compared to not letting the stuff develop in the first place, which is what good quick snow removal is going to do!

Nobody is Perfect

Look, nobody is perfect. Sometimes, after weeks of shoveling the snow, you just want to get a few extra hours of shuteye on the weekend. Or you overslept and you’ve only got enough time to brush the car off and head off to the office. We get it. That’s why we mention the other methods of ice removal.

But if you want our opinion, the best and least expensive way to fight back the ice is to keep on top of your snow removal!

From Our Clients

"JP was very knowledgeable and well prepared during the initial estimate – received several awards and seemed reputable and credible. Great, quality product and could finish the job quickly. Everyone was great to work with – the new concrete looks awesome, you guys did a fantastic job!"Fran & Dave Bateson, August 2013 Customer